Friday Movie Roundup: Cannes Controversy

0 Comments

Tags:

Cincinnati
is a long way from Cannes. And, barring a merger with Conde Nast or a
hefty donation from George Soros, CityBeat
will not be sending me to cover the Cannes Film Festival anytime
soon. Lucky for us, our fellow AAN peeps at Village Voice Media still
take film criticism seriously enough to send its lead film critics,
The Village Voice's J. Hoberman and LA Weekly's Karina
Longworth, to the grandaddy of all film festivals, which wraps up this
weekend.

As
is often the case when he's in town, Danish bad-boy Lars von Trier
stole the show — so much so that he's apparently been booted
from the festival for comments he uttered at a press conference
for his new film, Melancholia, during which he supposedly
sympathized with Hitler. I obviously wasn't there, thus the context
of Von Tier's comments are not immediately discernible, but my
initial reaction is the same as most Cannes-generated controversies:
everyone, from the press to the festival's inner sanctum, seems to be
overreacting — especially given the guy involved; a willfully
subversive provocateur who admittedly suffers from depression.

The
other big story at Cannes 2011 was the unveiling of Terence Malick's
long-gestating, hotly anticipated Tree
of Life, which
Hoberman trashes, writing that “Malick goes one on one with
God, not to mention Stanley Kubrick, and on both counts comes up
short — very short.”

Back
home in Cincinnati, it's another curious week for opening movies,
highlighted by Jodie
Foster's long-delayed The
Beaver, which is said to feature a strong
performance from Mel
Gibsonas
a acutely depressed guy who communicates via a hand puppet; a pair of
documentaries, including the return of Morgan
Spurlock; and yet
another Pirates
of the Caribbean
movie marked by the bemused presence of Johnny
Depp's Jack Sparrow.

Opening
films:

THE
BEAVER — Mel Gibson's cinematic mea culpa might not equate
to a public apology to the countless people he's insulted in recent
years. Still, and more importantly to moviegoers, the embattled actor
turns in a memorable performance as a suicidal character grasping for
straws. (Read full review here.) (Opens
today at Esquire Theatre.) — Cole
Smithey (Rated R.) Grade:
B-

COST
OF A SOUL — First-time writer/director Sean
Kilpatrick's crime drama tells the tale of two wounded Iraq War
veterans (Chris Kerson and Will Blagrove) who come back home to the
gritty Philadelphia neighborhood that spawned them. Tough,
soul-crushing times apparently ensue. (Opens
wide today.) — Jason
Gargano (Rated R.) Not
screened for review

ELEKTRA
LUXX — How writer/director Sebastian Gutierrez got
upper-crust actors like Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Julianne Moore to
take part in this unmitigated flop is a mystery. Everything about
this movie is off. Subplots don't connect. The tone is that of a
comedy, but nothing is funny. As a sex-romp, nothing is sexy. Even
the songs provided by the terrific Robyn Hitchcock don't work. (Read
full review here.) (Opens
today at Esquire Theatre.) — CS
(Rated PG-13.) Grade: D

THE
GREATEST MOVIE EVER SOLD — There’s a sense of Jazz, a
fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants vibe to the approach of documentary
filmmaker Morgan Spurlock. He sees a problem, a social issue that is
ripe for debate or investigation, and he just dives in. And in the
case of The Greatest
Movie Ever Sold, Spurlock entices several leading national
brands to chain themselves together with him. (Read full review
here.) (Opens today at
Esquire Theatre.) — tt
stern-enzi (Rated PG-13.) Grade:
B-

PIRATES
OF THE CARIBBEAN: ON STRANGER TIDES — Johnny Depp's now-iconic Jack Sparrow returns (minus Keira
Knightley and Orlando Bloom) in this fourth installment of the
Pirates
series. Rob Marshall, who is best known for his film adaptations of
musicals (Chicago, Nine), directs what turns out to be something of a
bore. (Read full review here.) (Opens wide today.) — tts
(Rated PG-13.) Grade: D

QUEEN
OF THE SUN — Taggart Siegel's documentary investigates
how we’ve now managed to screw up the life of honeybees — there’s
a crisis of what’s known as “colony collapse disorder,” in
which the worker bees are disappearing from hives. And this has a
threatening impact on the entire world, since we’re crucially
dependent on pollination for agriculture. (Read full review here.)
(Opens today at Kenwood
Theatre.) — Steven
Rosen (Not Rated.) Grade:
B